Green grass greeted two travelers on the foot of the mountain. There were wildflowers in some areas and the leaves from the trees rustled when the strong winds howled. Since it is still morning, the sun was dripping its golden light in the field of green creating beautiful scenery. It was captivating.
"Wild beasts roam around here. The most powerful is in the High Honor rank so we need to be careful. As long as we don't go to the deepest part of the forest, we'll be fine." Lucien warned Yllana to stick around him. After saying his piece, they journeyed on to climb the mountain.
Tall trees with swinging vines spread wide in the middle of the mountain and the higher they went, the bigger the beasts they encounter. In the middle of the forest, they heard sounds of fighting.
"We have to take its head! Remember don't damage its head! We need the soul crystal in it." a man dressed in rogue leather clothes and a brown cape shouted to the group. He had a deep scar running down his face ruining his almost perfect handsome features. With his built, it could be seen that he is only in his twenties.
Another voice chimed in, it was gentle and one would imagine the calm seas with it, "Mm, Leader, it seems that this creature is a high honor rank beast, we better prioritize our lives than the soul crystal." This man was only in his teens but the wisdom in his eyes has surpassed his age as he stared knowingly at the large black wolf in front of them. There were two more men with them fighting against the wolf who is thrice as big as an average human being.
"We need the money for the soul crystal. It would be hard to find another lost high honor ranked beast here." their leader gritted his teeth.
'A high honor ranked beast? But we are just in the middle in the forest, how did this beast get here?' Yllana's brow creased as she heard the conversation with the hunters. She could sense that the rogues are below high honor ranks due to the fact that they couldn't pin down the black wolf. But she also couldn't determine their exact power so she knows they are stronger than her.
Lucien looked at the group fighting the black wolf. If they circled around it, they could avoid the fight but knowing that the wolf has keen senses, it might attack them because there's only two of them and in front are only four men. Battling with two in lower ranks is easier than facing the four rogues. Even if the wolf does defeat the four men, it could still harm them on their journey ahead.
Before he could whisper to Yllana, he found that the spot she was standing on was empty. He looked ahead and saw a red-haired girl dashing into the battle. He slapped his forehead and gritted his teeth, "This idiot."
Yllana locked on her target while the four men were slashing their swords in front. With her speed, she took the dagger on her waist and wounded the four legs of the black wolf in quick succession. She doesn't have the strength to give it a huge blow but she knows her speed is top-notch. Upon wounding the wolf's legs, it trembled and howled in pain.
The four men were stunned with the figure that suddenly lunged forward. All they saw was a red figure slashing a dagger on the four limbs of the wolf. Their jaws dropped.
The wolf turned its head to look for the culprit and when its eyes laid on Yllana behind it, its eyes widened and with one powerful whip of its tail, Yllana was sent flying back to a tree. She coughed a mouthful of blood.
When the four men regained their senses, they used the chance to attack the black wolf and stabbed its chest repeatedly. Blood splattered everywhere and the wolf shot the four men with a murderous glare. It found the leader closest to it. The wolf opened its massive jaw and they saw rows of sharp teeth stained with blood.
The leader was rooted in the spot, he couldn't move his body and he found it hard to breathe. The wolf released its high honor pressure on him. The pain from the pressure of a high honor was suffocating him.
"Dim vision," Lucien's voice was cool and emotionless. He had leaped from the ground and tapped his staff in the wolf's eyes. In an instant, the wolf's eyes turned all white. It couldn't see anything and started to just snap its jaw widely. At the same moment, the rogues' leader saw the opportunity and swung his sword across the belly of the wolf showering him with blood. His entire body was now covered in red liquid.
The wolf fell on the ground with a loud thud. The four men who were hunting the beast heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. You and your companion have been a great help." The leader of the group was about to walk to Lucien's side when he noticed that Lucien was walking towards the red-haired woman not giving any of them a glance.
"We were helping ourselves." Lucien coldly exclaimed as he walked in front of Yllana. He took out a crystal bottle with red liquid and placed a drop on her lips.
Yllana felt the cold liquid on her lips and she licked it with her tongue and swallowed the drop. It had a different taste from the previous potions that Lucien had fed her to heal her injuries. And she still felt the stinging pain on her back. "This healing potion is a lot slower so bear with it. At least it stops your internal bleeding. I couldn't give you 'that' special potion with others around." he whispered in her ears.
"I understand. Thank you." she gave him a small smile. She didn't mind it since she was freeloading on his potions. Mages sell their potions for high prices while she, on the other hand, have been enjoying it freely with Lucien around. What a peculiar mage to just give free potions to a common citizen.
The rogues saw the interaction of the two and blushed at the sight. The two travelers seem to be more than just companions. That's what they are thinking when they caught Lucien whispering something very closely to Yllana.
"*cough*...My name is Valkin, leader of the Roaring Wind Village on this mountain. May I know what brought you here? Maybe we can help you." the man with a huge scar on his face was staring at Yllana's blood-red eyes. It was his first time seeing a girl with red hair and red eyes. With her fair white skin, she looks like she was bathing in blood as her hair draped down on her sides. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
"We were just passing through. We want to go to Roaring Winds City. This is the shortest way." Yllana was explaining to Valkin.
"Then you would be passing through our village. We could lead the way, right Morx?" he tilted his head to see the young man in rogue clothes and a blue robe. He was just a teenager and he looks the cleanest out of the four in the group. His gentle and claiming voice sounded in the forest.
"Of course leader, we are honored to have you on our travel to the village." When he stands beside Valkin, they look like the complete opposite of each other but both are equally handsome in some way. One was roguish-looking and carried a dominating air while the other gives off a sense of comforting and accommodating aura.
"We got the soul crystal now. We can hunt down a few more mid or low honor beasts on the way to the village." Valkin glanced at Yllana as if asking for her approval on the matter.
"We won't stand in your way then." She just gave off a small smile at him. But that smile caught Valkin off guard and he felt his heart went up to his throat.
Lucien frowned when he saw the two of them interacting. He felt the urge to take Yllana out of the mountains fast. When he realized his thoughts, he just grabbed Yllana's hand and walked behind the other members of the group.
Valkin was left dumbfounded on his spot. He saw how Lucien reacted and found it annoying. 'I want his girl.' he grinned to himself.